Rotary internal-combustion engine.



L. S. DB RIGHBLLE.

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1912.

1,087,259, Patented Feb-17,1914.

13k If EXE X 314 .re As; v j 41 r of 5 L. S. DB RIGHELLE. ROTARY INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1912.

Patented Feb. 17,1914

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

-Mz't4 I er I Q I V. cfiifJ.

' L. S. DB RIGHELLB. 4 ROCIARY INTERNAL comnusnon ENGINE.

APPLIOLTION FILED MAY 15, 1912'.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

d u I 1 u I/ WW 1 \1 m y M w UNITED sTAT s PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS s'rAs m: RICHELLE, or 'cnn'n'r, BELGI M, ASSIGNOR '10 s'ras-norarronsmoroncEsELLscHm M. n. 11.,01 BERLIN, GERMANY.

nomn'Y mrEnNAL-cdmBUs'rroN ENGINE.

T all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, LOUIS STAs DE RICHELLE, a. subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Ghent, in. the Kingdom of Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Internal-Combustion Engines, of

which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object distributing, gear for internal combustion engines but more particularly for engines in which two or more radially arranged cylinders efl'ect a circular movement around a common shaft. Such internal combustion engines with rotating cylinders" present disadvantages of various kinds, as is wellknow'n. For example engines of this kind present the defect that the distributing means used instead of valves for alternately closing and opening the admission and. exhaust" orifices for the fuel consist of a plurality of separate parts and-are therefore very complicated. The most fre uent consequence of this complicated formation of the distributing members is that they. cease to form'a good joint even after only a short period of continuous operation and then no longer act perfectly, even if they do not become en- 'tirely inoperative. Another defect of internal combustion engines as hithertoconstructed resides in the fact that for forming the combustion chamber above the piston a relativelyconsiderable extension of the cylinder walls i necessary. By an extension of the cylinder Walls, however, the moving masses which in the case of rotary engines in particular, are extremely dangerous, are considerably increased. Finally, in the known engines ofthe kind indicated above there is the further defect that the lubrication which is essential in the case of long continuous operation is only possible with the assistance mg gear and its arrangement on the cylinder Specification of Letters Patent.

particular, the object of the presentthereby causes a good joint to be made with- Patented Feb..17,1914. Application filed'May 15, 1912. Serial No. 697,520. 7

out the employment .of special auxiliary means for this. purpose. By the special-constructlon and arrangement of the distributing member, which allows the centrifugal force to be utilized for the said purpose, all the,

devices that have hitherto been required for making a good joint for the distributing members, such as springs, packing ring stuffng boxes, or the like, and also their retainmg members or devices are dispensed with and the distributing. member itself is rendered so simple that absolute perfection in the operation of the distributing gearis msured even during long continued uninterrupted operation, By means of a special automatic supply of the lubricant required for lubricating the movable parts of the distributing members from the reservior or other convenient collecting device and the utilization ofthe inner space of the distribut- 11 1g member as combustion chamber the operatlon ofthe distributing members as well as the operation of the internal combustion engine itself are rendered certain in every respect. Several embodiments. of the invention are llustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in whlch; Flgure 1 illustrates a part'of an axial engine with rotating cylinders in section. Fig. 2 shows the distributing mechanism on a larger scale. Fig. 3 shows an operating device for the movable parts of the distributmg mechanism in plan. Fig. 4 shows the same device in section on the line AA in .Fig. 3. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate in section members whereas Fig. 9 shows a'ring for firmly securing the cylinder to the engine casing.

The motor comprises the crank case, which is made of two parts I), b and is adapted to rotate around a stationary shaft 1). .On the periphery. of the crankcase the cylinders a of the engine are radially mounted. The lower or inner end of each cylinder comprises a rib n which engages a groove 02.

1 vided at one point (Fig. 9). 10

' ing shaft 6 I On its upper side the cylinder is closed by a (Figs. 7 and 8) in the crank case. The groove n in the crank case is arranged in such a manner that the rib n of the cylinder can bear on the lower projection of the groove and there finds a secure bearing while above the rib between the cylinder wall a and the crank case a free space for-in sorting a ring m is left. The ring m is di- This division of the ring serves on the one hand to permit of its arrangement on the cylinder over the rib and on the other hand provides for a resilient bearing of the ring on the wall of the crank case. On-its outer peripheryv the ring m is threaded while its upper side is rovided with notches for the insertion of liandles. If this ring m is screwed between the cylinder wall a and the crank case it is impossible for the cylinder to work loose. In each of the cylinders a a piston. 03 connected throu h the piston rod 0 to the drivas a reciprocating movement.

cover f, which, as shown in Fig. 2,is made so as to form a more or less circular chamber in which the combustion takes place, The arrangement of the chamber or casing f relatively to the cylinder is immaterial and may vary in accordance with the construction and the external form of the cylinder itself. One or more apertures f f are provided in the casing 1. These apertures may vary in size and may be made circular or elongated. As shown, elongated slots are employed andthese are narrow and relatively long. Of these slots the slots f communicate with the supply pipe e for'the explosive mixture coming from the carbureter and the slots f with the atmosphere.

The casing f which is constructed of a material of equal strengththroughout, is provided with intersecting rib-like projections 41.

at the place where the explosive mixtureis introduced as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Any desired rib-like. projections can be provided and their cross section may vary as desired;

they can be provided with amore or less tapering edge. These rib-like projections can also be formed in such a manner that they will run obliquely to the elongated slots and constitute a kind of receiver for the fuel introduced into the cylinder. This formation of the casing f, or of that part of it through which the explosive mixture is admitted, serves on the one hand to avoid menace the said parts of the bearing casing for the distributing member or by means of a different formation of the slots themselves to insure the necessary certainty of operation.

As already stated, the circular portion of the casin f is intended for the reception of thedistributing member In Which alternately closes and opens the inlet and exhaust ports for the explosive mixture. In accordance with my invent-ion the distributing member is given such a form and is arranged on the cylinder of the en 'ne in such a manner that the said distributing member is held to its seat merely by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the cylinder so that the employment of additional means is entirely unnecessary.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5' the distributing member consists of a cylindrical sleeve is mounted in the interior h of the casing f and displaceable and or rotatable about its longitudinal axis located in the direction of rotation of the engine.-

The sleeve is which of itself constitutes a chamb'er. of greater or less magnitude which commumcates with theii'nterior of the cylinder, or vcan be caused to communicate therewith in. some convenient manner, is cut away on the side toward the interior of I apertures or slots 70 k adapted to regis ter with those provided in the casing. The

openings in the sleeve are located relatively to the openings in the casing in such a manner that, according to the posi tion oi. the sleeve, its internal communicates either with the atmosphere or with the supply chamber for the explo' sive mixture. The arrangement of the sleeve 70 in the casing f is essential for its operation. In the first place thecut away ends of the-sleeve must be located more or less symmetrically to the central vertical plane z-e, Fig. 5 of the cylinder so that during the rotation of the cylinder a uniform adherence of the sleeve to the wall of the casing is always insured. Then, it is essential that the cross section of the sleeve which acts as a cylindrical slide valve should be selected in such a manner that the centers of gravity of the two halves of the cross section of this cylindrical valve do not come in or below the horizontalplane y-;z *Fig. 5 of the cylindrical valve but are-as far beyond or above this plane as possible. This renders it possible to utilize the centrifugal force for obtaining a good joint in the most space 40 tion of rotation of the motor.

fect during operation and cannot in any wise be impaired even during long continued operation. The distributing member itself (the internal space of which simultaneously serves as combustion chamber) consists only of a single part so that it is possible to re- '.heat due to friction, lubricating oil or the like is supplied between the sleeve 72 and the inner wall of the casing f. The lubricating;-

oil is supplied through an up-pipe 2' opening into the casing f. The arrangement of the discharge aperture '71 of the up-pipe i onthe casing 7 relatively to the direction of rotation of the cylinder is important. In the construction as shown in Fig. 8 the position of the mouth 71' of the up-pipe z for discharging the lubricating oil into the casing of the distributing member has been selected in such a manner that the oil passing from the up-pipe into the casing is distributed by the centrifugal force over the entire surface of the distributing member. 'In order to attain this, result the mouth '5- of the up-pipe z is located in as close proximity as possible to the foremost part of the casing in the direc- The oil en tering the casing from the mouth of the pipe is discharged and uniformly dis-.

- tributed directly over the entire surface of thefdistributing member.

The oil required for lubricating the distributing member can be taken automatically by means of the up-pipe from a storage reservoirwlnch may be arranged in the engine casing. As shown the oil thrown by the 5.0 crank rod of the internal combustion engine during the running of the latter against the wall I) of the enginecasing is utilized for lubricating the distributing member. -\Vith this object. the engine casing can be con- 56 s'tructedin such a manner that the whole of the oil thrown onto the Wall of the casing collects in a singleguide channel Z from which it reaches the up-pipe, being carried to the parts to be'lubricate'd by the latter.

60 For collecting the oil thrown ofi by the '-crank rod either-a separate catching and collecting channel can be arranged in the motor casing or the casing itself can be formed as a guide channel.

The displacement of the sleeveabout its place the, distributing member quickly and order to prevent the generation of too much axis is effected b a d 9 which is pivoteddirectly to-the s eeve k and is also fixed to a slide member 37 arranged on one sideof the motor. This member .1), carries a roller '1 which slides in an irregular groove r arranged in a plate. The cam groove'corresponding to the cycle of admis; sion, compression, explosion and exhaust is made corresponding to the ratio between the speed of rotation. of the engine andthat'of the cam plate. f I As soon as the cylinders aof the engine rotateabout theshaft b the centrifugal force forces the distributin member (the sleeve is) against the inner wal of thecasing f in such o a manner that an absolutely reliable joint is provided between the casing and the sleeve without the employment of auxiliary devices such as packing rings, springs or the like which complicate the distributing member; 35

by the selection of more-or less closely arranged narrow slot-shaped perforations the further advantage is attained that for the purpose of effecting the distribution, thev sleeve 70 need only havea relatively small movement without the free cross sect-ion for i the flow through the openings being thereby smaller. I I

It will of course be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the embodiment as shown.- I

In. order-to admit air during the running of the engine to its casing .in particular for. cooling purposes"ventilating inlets m (Fig.- 8) are arranged on the engine casing. These 100 inlets can be of varying size and numberand can be .given any convenient external form. The only essential point is that they should be suited for supplying. air during the running of the engine to the engine cas- 1% ing. The manner in which these air supply-T ing devices are arranged and the position which they occupy is immaterial. These 'means can be arranged equally advantageously either on the periphery or on the side walls of the engine casing. As shown the ventilating inlets m are arranged on the periphery of the engine casing a in order to introduce air into the engine casing for the purpose of cooling the latter.

. What I claim is;

1. An internal combustion engine comprising rotatin cylinders, combustion chambers having in et and outlet apertures and split cylindrical sleeves, one in each combusno tion chamber, provided with inlet and outlet apertures and arranged to be forced under the centrifugal action of the cylinders against the inner wall of its chamber.

2. An internal combustion engine com- 1" prising rotatin cylinders, combustion chambers having in gt and outlet apertures, split cylindrical sleeves in said chambers provided with registering apertures and a pi e,

connecting a lubricating oil chamber with pzising rotating cylinders, combustion chamrs having inlet and outlet apertures and split cylindrical sleeves, one in each combus- ,tion chamber provided with inlet and outlet apertures and rotatable about their longitudmal axes located in the direction of rotation of the engine, so that the sleeves are forced under the centrifugal action of the cylinders against the inner wall of their chambers.

4:. All internal combustion engine comprising rotating cylinders, combustion chambers having inlet and outlet apertures and split cylindrical sleeves, one in each combustion chamber, provided with inlet and outlet apertures and with the centers of gravity of their symmetrical halves above the horizontal axial plane (y-y) so as tocause the said halves to be forced under the centrifugal action of the cylinders against the inner wall of their chambers.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses. LOUIS STAS DERICHELLE.

Witnesses:

, JULI S STAN HEEY,

I. M. CHEEDETIES. 

